If only I’d known: the downside of “Zadzooks”

A deeper look at some de-facto mainstream press reps shows that they’re not as reliable as I’d first thought

September 29, 2008

By Avi Green

It’s not often that I update this old personal website of mine these days, being more of a blogger now, just like anyone, if not everyone, else. But now, I’ve found a little something sad that I feel needs to be focused upon here, as it dawns upon me that at least two writers whom I’d praised before are not as reliable as I’d originally wanted to believe.

3 years ago, I wrote this essay in which I said that I enjoyed reading a lot of the works of Joseph Szadkowski of the Washington Times because, well, I thought he offered better insight than another MSM representative I’ve since grown disillusioned with.

Alas, as I later discovered, much to my dismay, he’s no better than the aforementioned journalist, and just like that other columnist, he too sugarcoated the abominable Identity Crisis, which still continues to litter the DC Universe with its most foul, poisonous stench. Here are two excerpts from two columns he wrote in which he too did what to lose my respect:

Since the death of the Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny, in the spring of 2004, DC Comics has put its fans into an emotional and multilayered story crossing over most of its best titles (around 78 comic books, to be more exact), which has led up to the current, universe-shattering developments in this monumental seven-part miniseries. - Joseph Szadkowski, The Washington Times, January 28, 2006

And also:

Best-selling thriller author and architect of DC Comics' popular miniseries Identity Crisis, Brad Meltzer, begins the construction of a new era for the Justice League of America.

[...]

Overall, I am not sure how many times readers can deal with the shenanigans of comic-book publishers who feel they need to reinvent a series to boost sales. However, fans should give this new Justice League a chance, if only based on how Mr. Meltzer handled his Identity Crisis. - Joseph Szadkowski, The Washington Times, August 26, 2006

It’s enough to make me choke. But it does teach me an important lesson: I can’t expect a conservative, assuming he is one, to be any better than a liberal. Though I’ll have to admit that it’s astounding that even some conservatives see nothing wrong with a monstrosity like IC.

On a related note, I discovered that even Peter Sanderson, whom I’d spoken about earlier too, may not be as reliable as I previously thought. Of course, he may be a liberal, so in his case, maybe that’s to be expected?

Update on the state of Gambit

I’d spoken a year ago about how I’d learned a lesson that it’s foolish to criticize the characters instead of how they’re written, and what I knew had been done with Remy LeBeau in the X-Men. Well, as I’ve now discovered, fortunately, he seems to be okay now.

But even so, there’s still some very big questions here: will current and future writers make any attempt to redeem him seriously, and maybe even to exonerate Gambit of any involvement in the Morlock Massacre, if it helps? I think that would be a good idea, and could be of much more help than one might think.

The problem of course, is that we can’t expect any of these improvements to come under Joe Quesada, who’s already guilty of wrecking havoc upon the better aspects of Spider-Man, starting with the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane, but extending to Peter’s own personality as well. They turn him into a slacker who’s too lazy to go out and get a job, when here, in years past, Peter was always looking for jobs to earn a living.

It really doesn’t surprise me that, under what Quesada’s editorial management has turned out to be like, this could happen. This is one more reason why American comics are going down the drain.

Copyright 2008 Avi Green. All rights reserved.

Home FAQ Columns Reviews Links Favorite Characters Special Features Politics Blog Comics Blog Food Blog